PopCap

I’ve been playingPlants vs. Zombies for the past few days, and I can’t stop raving about it. PopCap’s take on the Tower Defense genre went beyond my expectations. I won’t go full into it; you’ll have to read my review on Thursday, but suffice to say, I enjoyed it.

But if you want to check it out for yourself on the PC or Mac, a free trial is available on PopCap’s Web site. You should check it out. But I have to warn you, the game is fiendishly addictive.

If you haven’t played Peggle and its sequel, you should. Frankly, it’s one of the best casual games I played in a long time. It has a weird pool/pinball thing going on there.

But if the only thing that stopped you from playing was the platform (It was available only PC and then Mac.), well, now you have no excuse. The game is out for the Nintendo DS and the iPhone and Xbox Live versions are coming later this month. PopCap even announced a free bonus level pack for Peggle Nights.

It’s all part of this “Peggle Fever” promotion in which PopCap is celebrating these releases with daily giveaways of games and merchandise. The details of the event are partlyhere. I can’t wait to play the game on the DS.

PopCap Games is launching Bejeweled Twist Oct. 27 in Seattle. Although I can’t attend the event (I heard it was going to be fun.), the folks there were kind enough to send some Bejeweled cookies through the mail.

And I have to say, it’s oh-so tasty. It’s not as amazing as the LEGO Batman cake, but it’s still good nonetheless. I could imagine Homer Simpson saying: “Mmmm delicious gameplay.”

Look down on casual games all you want but it’s hard to deny that Bejeweled is a great game. It’s the first thing I get every time I get a new cell phone and it has a broad enough appeal that my mom, my grandma and I all play. It’s pretty close to nearing Tetris levels of ubiquity.

Even taking that into account, PopCap’s announcement that Bejeweled has sold 25,000,000 units for more than $300,000,000 is still amazing. That’s nearing GTA4 amounts of revenue and, considering it probably didn’t have anywhere near GTA4 levels of production costs, an incredible amount of profit.

Put this together with the Wii and it just goes to prove that you can put the best graphics and the most advanced AI on the most advanced hardware in the world and it will make less money than a game with fun gameplay and archaic graphics every time.

So what’s more impressive than this Peggle shot that smashed the 13.5 million record? Well, it comes pretty close, but PopCap Games announced that it will be bringing one of the best casual games in years to the Nintendo DS this winter.

It’s one of three titles coming to the hand-held. The other two are Adventures The Forgotten Ruins and Mystery P.I.- Portrait of a
Thief. Both of these titles are based on those hidden image games you’d find in Highlights magazine. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

As for the cost, Peggle will sell for $29.95, which is a little pricey. The other two titles will go for $19.95 and will be released this winter.

I have to admit it. I love Peggle. It’s one of those perfect puzzle games like Tetris that’s simple enough to play but deep enough to keep you interested.

Well now, PopCap is working on a sequel called Peggle Nights and I had a chance to check it out the other day. This time around, PopCap gives players more levels and another character to play around with. It’s a squidlike creature but the name of it hasn’t been decided.Continue Reading →